Articles Tagged withexplosion nyc

Five people were injured in a manhole explosion in the Bronx, NYC, last Friday night. A manhole located on Saint Ann’s Avenue near East 156th Street exploded under a parked car. 3 civilians and 2 police officers were injured by flying debris during the explosion. The civilians were treated at the scene of the accident while the two police officers were transported to the hospital to be treated.

Con Edison crews were still making repairs yesterday working to fix underground wires in a narrow area of Saint Ann’s Avenue.

Manhole explosions can be very dangerous in a busy city like New York. In such explosion the cast iron cover that can weight between 85 and 300 pounds is sometimes propelled into the air from 1 foot to 50 feet depending on the intensity of the explosion. Manhole explosions often occur during the spring because all the salt used to make the roads safer is corroding the underground cables. However other factors such as aging, overload or rat biting can also damage the cables insulation. When the cable insulation is damaged, wires start to touch each others creating heat to the point that the insulation catches on fire and releases gas. The pressure from the gas then builds up inside the manhole. The defective electrical wires can then ignite the gas and cause a potential explosion.

2 sisters died from burns after a radiator exploded in their apartment in the Bronx, New York City. 1 year old Scylee Ambrose and 2 year old Ibanez Ambrose were sleeping in their bedroom when a radiator valve blew off. The entire room quickly filled with hot steam. The two girls were rushed to the hospital but they couldn’t be saved.

The explosion occurred wednesday afternoon in a building located at 720 Hunts Point Avenue in the Bronx. The building shelters 5 homeless families. It is run by the Bushwick Economic Development Corp. As part of a city program called cluster-site, five families are living in this building. The rent is paid by the city until the families can find permanent housing. The cluster-site program has a bad reputation. Many of the units housing families in this program are among the worst maintained and the most poorly monitored properties among all NYC shelters. Last year a report published by the Department of Investigation found “a lot of dangerous conditions at clusters”.